Adrian Rohnfelder has been photographing the most extreme parts of the planet for years, but it's his latest feat that's really grabbed our attention. He's been visiting every one of the world-famous Volcanic Seven Summits, the tallest volcanoes on each of the seven continents: Mount Sidley, Antarctica; Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; Pico de Orizaba, Mexico; Ojos del Salado, Chile; Elbrus, Russia; Mount Damavand, Iran; and Mount Giluwe, Papua New Guinea. Rohnfelder is the first photographer to have completed the challenge, and he's gathered his jaw-dropping photography together in a stunning new book: Volcanic 7 Summits: Dreams of the Unknown.

The stories that accompany Rohnfelder's images don't just focus solely on molten soil and ash clouds. They also offer insight into the people that live around the craters, and how it feels to inhabit a landscape that could blow up at any minute.

As Rohnfelder writes, no image can serve as a substitute for how powerful nature feels when you're in these settings. But hopefully you'll get at least a few spine tingles as you browse our favorites of Rohnfelder's photographs.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Popocatepetl Volcano

43 miles southeast of Mexico City, Popocatepetl is the second tallest volcano in North America (the name translates to "smoking mountain"). Rohnfelder believes the best time to photograph volcanoes is during their "blue hour," when the day is still there, but the sun's gone down.

Adrian Rohnfelder

The Paso de Cortés mountain pass

The Paso de Cortés is a mountain pass situated between Orizaba's two volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The historic landmark is named for Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquerer who passed through in 1519 on the way to his famous meeting with Aztec ruler Montezuma II.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Nevado Tres Cruces' three summits

The three summits of the volcanic Nevado Tres Cruces tower above Argentina's Laguna Rosa ("the pink lagoon"). Conditions here in the Atacama desert are the closest thing Earth has to those found on Mars –– it's why the world's space agencies test their rovers here.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Badab E-Surt's limestone terraces

On his way to Iran's volcanic Mount Damavand, Rohnfelder stopped to take in the morning light at the limestone terraces of Badab E-Surt in the Northeast.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Popocatepetl Volcano through the clouds

This active stratovolcano fired an ash column in June, and is the second highest peak in Mexico.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Antartica's Ellsworth Mountains

In Antarctica's Ellsworth Mountains on the approach to Mount Sidley, Rohnfelder found the landscape to be so powerful that even though he was strapped by a rope to his team, nothing could shake the uncanny feeling that he was entirely alone.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Papua New Guinea's Mount Giluwe

Papua New Guinea's Mount Giluwe was Rohnfelder's seventh and final summit. While navigating this valley may look simple, the photographer and his team found themselves constantly felled by rough terrain and knotty vines during their approach.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Ethiopia's Danakil Desert

Lava lakes like this one—Erta Ale in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert—are an incredibly rare phenomenon. Almost none maintain this molten state for a consistent period of time.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Ojos del Salado

Located near the Atacama Desert, this mountain is in a dry climate, and snow is only found at its peak during the winter months.

Adrian Rohnfelder

Mount Kilimanjaro

Anyone hoping to climb Mount Kilimanjaro has to pass through six distinct climate zones to do so, from a fertile rainforest to the ash-gray desert region that appears as you near the summit.